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Forty Percent of U.S. Children Read Below Their Grade Level: authors of New Book Discuss Children’s Learning Problems on TV Interview

Hartford, CT -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/22/2006 -- Authors of a new book, My Child’s Not Learning to Read in School! What Can I Do?, educator Christine Hale, MEd and researcher Zelig Dolinsky, PhD were interviewed by Tom Monahan of Channel 30, WVIT, on the Connecticut Newsmakers show, this past Sunday, March 12, 2006. They discussed parents’ options when their child is struggling to read and the school is unresponsive to input or unaware that there is a problem. This is a critical issue because 40% of children in this country read below their grade level.

Parents whose children are struggling in school need strategies to help their children reach their learning potential because schools often do not respond effectively to some children’s learning problems. Parents experience frustration trying to get the school to address their child’s needs successfully. “The school is looking at what the child actually produces. They see the job getting done. They see the worksheets being handed in. They see, yes, he/she has a little problem with spelling, but it’s going to be better, ” said Hale, adding, “but the parent sees the child struggling, sees the child crying, hears the child say, ‘I don’t want to go to school today.”

Dolinsky pointed out that parents need a resource such as this book that addresses their concerns and provides information so parents are educated about their child’s learning problem, schools’ possible responses, and how to deal with various situations that arise in the advocacy process. “That’s the other part that’s really important to focus on,” he said. “Parents need to learn successful skills for dealing with the situation where they feel as if their child is not doing as well as they really should be, and the school says, ‘Oh, no, everything’s ok,’ and actually everything’s not ok. So what the book deals with are strategies for how parents can work with the school to make sure their child gets what they need.”

Monahan of the Connecticut Newsmakers show interviewed Hale and Dolinsky about their goals to improve overall reading instruction in schools and educate parents in how to advocate for their children who have learning difficulties. The show aired Sunday, March 12, 2006. ###